Box Score Box score

Northeastern defeated Fairfield University, 2-1, at Parsons Field on Saturday.

For the fourth consecutive game, the Huskies and their opponent played a scoreless first half. Both teams traded chances in the opening 45 minutes, with Northeastern having a couple of notable opportunities to take the lead.

Laurence Braude, playing on the left side of attack, was influential in the Husky offense early on and almost created the opening goal in the 17th minute. Braude picked up the ball about 25 yards away from goal with three defenders in front of him. Some fancy footwork saw him dart past three defenders into the box and get a shot on goal, only for it to be parried away by goalkeeper Michael O'Keeffe.

About 20 minutes later, the Huskies had an even better chance to move ahead. Dante Marini swung in a corner that Ambry Moss was able to get a head to. Moss's header looked goal-bound until it was cleared off the line by the Fairfield defense, with Josh Semerene putting the resulting rebound over the crossbar.

Jacob Aduama, making his second career start, was not tested frequently in the opening stanza, but did well when called upon. The Stags best scoring chance of the half came from Jon Clements, whose firm strike was beaten away well by Aduama.

In the second half the Huskies made a goalkeeper change, putting in Oliver Blum for Aduama, though that was not the only adjustment made at the interval.

“The plan was, against a team that brings that much size, to keep the ball on the floor, that was the emphasis at half-time,” said head coach Brian Ainscough. “Once we accomplished that in the second half, the game shifted. We got the ball down onto the ground and started to come into our own.”

Northeastern wasted no time getting the breakthrough in the second half, as Ricardo McDonald scored his second goal of the season in the 51st minute.

Mike Kennedy's cross from the right came all the way to Braude on the opposite side of the box. Braude hit a vicious, dipping volley that smashed against the post and bounced back into play. McDonald was in the right place at the right time to steer home the rebound, putting it past O'Keeffe and putting the Huskies ahead.

Not comfortable with a one-goal advantage, Northeastern continued to attack, getting a second goal in style in the 80th minute. Marini went on an incredible run, evading Fairfield defenders left and right as he worked his way towards the box. In all the excitement, Semerene was left unmarked at the top of the penalty area and after receiving the pass from Marini, he slotted home his second goal of the season to boost the Huskies advantage to 2-0.

The goal turned out to be critical for Northeastern, after Fairfield scored with less than ten minutes to play, making for a nervous ending. Jordan Ayris scored into an empty net after Blum had come off his line to collect a loose ball and was unable to claim it.

Fairfield almost completed the comeback with two minutes when Jack Burridge had a shot from point-blank range, but it was right at Blum and the Husky keeper made a smart save to preserve the 2-1 lead.

For the Huskies, the win brings their record to 4-1-1, while Fairfield drops to 0-3-0 with the loss. Northeastern is next in action on Saturday, Sept. 24 when it opens conference play at home against VCU. That game is scheduled to kick-off at 6 p.m.

A replay of this game is available on GoNUxstream. GoNUxstream is free to all viewers and features live and on-demand video and audio broadcasts, as well as live game stats, and is accessible on PC and Mac computers, as well as on iPhones, iPads and Android phones.